Updated 6:12 p.m.

The margin in the Alaska Republican Senate race had narrowed to 1,294 votes as of Tuesday afternoon, after the state began counting the first batch of outstanding primary ballots.

Fairbanks lawyer Joe Miller continues to lead Sen. Lisa Murkowski, even though his cushion has dropped from the 1,668-vote edge he had after the Aug. 24 election.

The first tally, reported at 3 p.m. EST, had the lead down to 1,325. A subsequent report, released at 5:15 p.m., showed Miller’s lead falling further.

More than 15,000 ballots will be counted Tuesday. So far, at least 5,286 ballots have been counted, 52 percent of which have gone for Murkowski. Miller now leads with 49,888 votes to Murkowski’s 48,594 votes.